A Word from Pastor Nathan

Evan Collins, Director of Worship and the Arts, took two weeks of vacation at the beginning of August, and yet still provided organ accompaniment for Sunday morning worship. How did he do that?

Several months ago, we ordered a new MIDI device that enables Evan to record music on the organ to a USB drive. This upgrade replaced the old floppy disk drive. The new component included a remote control, which—as we saw the last two weeks—is only as intuitive as its user. The funds for this upgrade came from our designated Organ fund.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020 and we moved worship online, we conducted a huge experiment with equipment I had on hand: iPhones, selfie sticks that also worked as tripods, and monitor speakers. After it became clear that we were going to be in the throes of pandemictide longer than any of us wanted, two church members expanded a designated music and worship account they created to include infrastructure for online worship. With this fund, we purchased three Panasonic 4K cameras, a new digital mixer, microphones, and we hired an audio engineer to connect the audio components and set the EQ levels.

In late 2020, we received another gift that provided funds for the church to purchase a computer, external monitor, and solid-state recorder. Now the church has its own equipment for full worship production.

Our designated music and worship account has served other purposes, too, that have added beauty to the worship of God. For example, Evan hired fantastic guest musicians for Advent and Christmas. Their music remains archived on our YouTube channel. Most recently, Caitlin Gibson hand-crafted new handbell covers that are beautiful.

Because of your generosity, we have worship in-person and online that helps people create meaning in ways that are true. As we look forward to the beginning of the new program year, I expect our music and worship will continue to be vibrant. We have new ideas to realize, and we need your help. Your gifts to the designated music and worship account will make this work possible. Thank you!